August 2, 2011

[Terry] Doyle, a 37th-round selection by the White Sox in 2008, has been nothing but consistent – consistently good – since making his professional debut following a solid career at Boston College. Yet, when you look at some of his numbers, there is some head scratching involved.

The New Hampshire native is 4-9 with 2.99 ERA this season in 20 starts split between Winston-Salem and Birmingham. He has proven to be one of the most effective and dominant pitchers in the Chicago system, yet has won only 22 games in just under four seasons. It all goes back to the numbers.

Since the beginning of the 2010 season, he has made 30 starts in which he has allowed two earned runs or less at Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and now Birmingham. He has an ERA of 1.50 in those starts yet amazingly, his record is only 12-10 with eight no decisions in those outings. …

Doyle is doing a heck of a job. His HR/9 is a bit higher this year. Hopefully he brings it down like in other years. And hopefully the Sox give him a chance in Spring Training 2012.

UPDATE: That July 11 game screwed his stats up in a big way. Doyle has allowed 7 home runs all year and 5 of them came in that 4 1/3 inning start. If we overlook that 1 game he has allowed only 2 home runs all year! Couldn’t Birmingham’s manager pull him earlier? OK, the guy had a bad game. No big deal. Take him out. Why send him out there for the 5th inning?

Doyle’s stats look very very good: in 27.0 innings in AA he has a 20 K / 5 BB ratio, a 1.18 WHIP, a 2.67 ERA and a 3.06 FIP. Looks like a bright spot in the White Sox barren minor-league system. If he keeps this up for the rest of the year, he should get a shot to make the team in Spring Training next year.

Reed, 22, has a 1.49 ERA with 50 strikeouts and five walks in 36.1 on the season, surpassing even the most optimistic projections for the 2010 3rd round pick. Reed features a plus slider and a low 90s fastball, making him a typical two-pitch reliever. …

The biggest surprise to me was Eduardo Escobar landing in AAA. The slick fielding shortstop played 49 games with the Barons last year and hit just .262 with an OPS south of .700. That said, he impressed Ozzie Guillen among others this spring.

On the mound, the Dash boasts a pair of top 30 prospects in the starting rotation. Brazilian right-hander Andre Rienzo was one of Kannapolis’ best starters last year, going 8-4 with a 3.65 ERA and holding opponents to two runs or fewer in each of his last ten starts. Rienzo is ranked by Baseball America as the 25th best prospect in the White Sox farm system. RHP Cameron Bayne was 29th on that list after finishing 2010 12-9 with a 3.60 ERA and 101 strikeouts last season for the Intimidators. Bayne and Rienzo should be joined in the rotation by RHP Terry Doyle, LHP Hector Santiago, RHP Justin Collop, and possibly LHP Joe Serafin.

October 29, 2010

Throughout the 2010 campaign, starting pitcher Terry Doyle heard his name reverberate over the loudspeakers at ballparks throughout the South Atlantic and Carolina Leagues. At his offseason job, however, Doyle is responsible for his own introductions.”

Starting pitcher, No. 34, Terrrrrrry Doyle!” is now simply “Mr. Doyle,” a substitute teacher presiding over high school math classes in his home state of Rhode Island. …

Right-handed starting pitcher — Terry Doyle, Kannapolis (seven games), Winston-Salem (20 games):Doyle grew up in Red Sox Nation, but he’s made a nice transition to the Pale Hose. The 6-foot-4 righty went 12-10 with a 2.94 ERA and an organizational-best 157 strikeouts in 168 1/3 innings between two levels. Only Chicago’s John Danks (162) had more strikeouts in 2010.

“He’s a tremendous competitor, he competes his butt off,” said McEwing. “He wants the ball until the end of the ninth. He’s able to mix four pitches for strikes at any time and able to locate to all four pitches — it’s one of the biggest assets he’s got. He competes at a high level and is able to throw four pitches at any time.”

The Boston College product was especially nasty at Class A, going 4-2 with a 0.96 ERA in seven starts. He features a fastball, curve, change and a cutter-slider, throwing his heater in the 89-91 mph range with good control. He was promoted mid-season and earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors June 7.

“He’s very polished,” said McEwing, who helped the Mets reach the World Series in 2000. “He almost had a big league season with about 180 innings, and he did an outstanding job. He wants the ball, he doesn’t want to come out of the game. You wish you had five starters like that every day.”

and Greg Walker on Tyler Flowers:

“He’s a tremendously talented kid that is trying to correct some swing problems and some approach flaws, in my mind,” White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker said of Flowers to MLB.com. “I’m still confident he’s on the right track, but this winter is important to him.”

“There are a few things we are tweaking with his swing. He’s still got a few misses that we are looking to iron out this winter, but he can be a productive offensive player. The more efficient he becomes with his legs and swing, the more pop you will see,” Walker said. “Every time I see him, it’s a little better. His swing and offensive game [are] evolving. He’s working on some things, nothing major, just minor things to iron out.”